My first negative air b n b experience. Upon check-in, neither co-hosts were there. This is not highly unusual, but it did lead to a negative situation. The housekeeper (not a native English speaker) called one of the co-hosts, who attempted to translate the check-in over the phone. I let the co-host know that my traveling companion (Steven) would be arriving later that evening after his appointment. The housekeeper gave me one set of keys to the room, intending to provide steven with the keys when he arrived. Steven's appointment went over time, and we ended up returning to the air b n b at the same time (around 8 pm) that evening.
When we arrived that evening, we unlocked the front gate, and attempted to enter the building but realized there was a key card needed for this step. The keys I was given did not have a key card on them. We messaged Joseph, who messaged us that the housekeeper told him that the keys were given to Steven. This was alarming; Steven had not been to the apartment yet. This was even more alarming, as we were traveling in a foreign country, and my belongings, including my laptop and passport, were in the room. For about 10 minutes, were nervous and under the impression that the keys were given to a stranger. It turns out it was a miscommunication between Joseph and his housekeeper, as she still had the keys. Joseph had a tenant (who sent their child down) to open the door for us.
We were rightfully upset, to which Joseph apologized, gave us a small refund, and stated that he would be speaking with his housekeeper. I do not believe it is the housekeeper's fault, and I would hate to think that he is deflecting blame on her over something that he could have easily fixed himself by just putting a keycard on every set of keys. Or maybe having one of the co-hosts do the check-in? It is clear that Joseph should have a keycard on every set of keys. I'm still unsure why this was not the case. What was even more upsetting to me was that the next morning, Joseph again asked me to check to see if I was, in fact, given the second set of keys. As a 30-year-old woman, this was somewhat degrading. I had made it clear at this point that I was not given the keys. Thankfully, we were in town for a conference, so we didn't have to deal with communicating much more after this. I do not recommend staying here unless Joseph or the co-host do the check-in, and handles their keys and communication in a better manner.